Of TARDISes and Relays
by Scarecrow'sMainFan
Summary: The universe is in for a shock on the day the Doctor, not Commander Shepard, arrives on Eden Prime on the day the Geth invade. It's the story of Mass Effect, but with the Doctor as the main protagonist.


Hey everyone. So, this has been bubbling in my mind for a long time now, and I just thought I might as well put it out there and see what kind of response it gets.

 **The Time Vortex:**

Beyond the material plane, deep in the fourth dimension, was a small blue box. Looking strangely out of place surfing the rivers of time, this box was well known across all of time and space. This box… was the TARDIS. Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, it was capable of going anywhere at any time. It had been spotted across time, in the background of both historical and seemingly innocuous moments; and it would occasionally be sighted on distant alien worlds or sitting innocently on some random street corner. Though considered obsolete by its makers, it had accomplished and traveled far more then any model of TARDIS that had come after it.

Of course, just as important as the TARDIS itself was its eternal passenger. A man who walked in eternity, this strange entity, this Oncoming Storm, was known most often as The Doctor. Though he looked human, he was so much more. A Time Lord of the planet Gallifrey, he was the last of his kind. He roamed the cosmos and time stream, always traveling, never stopping in any one place for very long. But every time he did stop and land the TARDIS, adventure was soon to follow.

That said, the problem was figuring out not only WHERE but WHEN to land. As he walked around the console of his ship, his brow was furrowed as he tried to decide just what he wanted to do next. The problem with having all of time and space laid out before you was that there were so many options, and it was tough deciding what to do.

Finally he just shrugged "I give up" he spoke aloud, addressing his TARDIS. "I just can't make up my mind." His lips curled into a sly smile "So why don't you pick my dear…" he suggested before throwing a lever and twisting a nob.

The TARDIS shuddered and its engines roared to life as it made its way to its destination. The Doctor had set the destination to random, leaving the choice fully in the hands of his TARDIS and fate. The sexy machine had never let him down before, and he knew that it wouldn't now.

"Geronimo…"

 **Eden Prime:**

Eden Prime, one of the first human colony worlds. It was on the edge of Alliance space, and many often wondered if it was a good idea for humanity to put themselves so close to danger. But humanity was never one to balk in the face of a challenge, and Eden Prime had been a bastion they were proud of.

And now, the pride of Humanity was burning.

Ashley Williams didn't know why this was happening, only that it was. Everything had changed when they'd found that stupid Beacon! An archeological dig had turned up one of those legendary Prothean artifacts, and not long after things went straight to hell. She and her team had been assigned to help guard the dig site and the scientists there. Then, out of nowhere, the skies turned dark, and a giant ship descended from the sky. Ashley could still remember the sound it made as it entered the atmosphere, a grinding blaring horror that felt like it was trying to claw out her skull.

After that, Geth fighters had proceeded to destroy everything in their path. A squad of them had landed near the dig and opened fire on the scientists. Her team had sprung into action but they were soon outnumbered. To her eternal shame, she'd been forced to retreat. Her team… her team had been… maybe they survived? Maybe they hid? Or defeated the Geth? Maybe…

 **Elsewhere and slightly earlier…**

In the middle of a verdant field the TARDIS appeared, allowing the Doctor to step out and take a breath of fresh air. In moments he was able to tell the system, planet, and time period. One of the perks to being such a well traveled time lord like himself.

"Eden Prime… Oh this is lovely. Humanities shining jewel on the edge of the system." The human race, ever reaching further and further in the stars. As he began to walk around, he noticed some floating creatures by small pond. Gas Bags! Oh this day just got better and better.

Sadly, The Doctor barely got to know his new friends (Gas Bags were notoriously good conversationalists, but rarely got the chance to use their skills due to so few speaking their language) when the skies began to darken ominously. The Doctor looked up just in time to see a massive ship break through the clouds, followed by a sound not unlike a fog horn but exponentially louder.

Even as he heard the noise, the Doctor's frown deepened. He could swear he sensed something… a telepathic signal? It was faint, but he still walled his mind against it, just to be safe.

After warning his new friends to find a safe place to hide, the Doctor sprinted off, drawn towards where he projected the aircraft was hovering. Passing the shoreline and through some trees, the Doctor entered a clearing and saw a human running his way.

It was a woman, decked in white and pink armor, her face partially obscured by a helmet. A gun gripped tightly in her hands, she was more focused on running then shooting. Behind her, several robotic looking beings followed behind her, taking pot shots at her, but the few that hit seemed to ping off a semi-invisible shield.

Quick to act, the Doctor raised his sonic screwdriver. He didn't have time to calibrate it exactly for these machines, but a generic pulse should lock them up for a bit. With a high pitched whine, the pulse went into affect. The two Geth Troopers had just enough time to look up at him before their servos locked up and their light heads began to crackle.

(Ashely)

Ashley didn't know who the guy running towards her was, but it was clear he wasn't a soldier. The lack of armor or weapons was clear enough, as was his strange manner of dress. Before she could call out a warning to him, he raised some sort of tool, and aimed it over her shoulder. She heard some sort of whine, before the bullets being fired at her suddenly stopped. Turning, she saw the Geth Troopers bugging out. Taking the opening, she opened fire, her marksmen skills allowing her to blast their heads off with a few well placed shots.

Now that that was out of the way, time to see who this stranger was… and maybe thank him as well.

As he opened his mouth she beat him to the punch "This area is not secure. You shouldn't be here civilian." Okay, so much for gratitude. But still, procedure dictates that you shouldn't have a civilian running around a combat zone!

The man just blinked and chuckled "I rather gathered that from the gunshots. That's why I came running. I'm here to help. You see, I'm the Doctor-"

Ashley didn't quite catch what he said next, her mind having zoomed elsewhere. A doctor? That didn't necessarily mean a doctor of medicine, there had certainly been quite a few doctors that had shown up to examine the beacon… but none of those doctors would come running TOWARDS a battlefield. Her gaze hardened. Only a medical doctor, with am oath to help all people would do such a thing.

She grabbed him by his shoulder and started hauling him back the way she'd come. He was a light guy, more wiry then a soldier. "A doctor? Good, you need to help me!" In her head she said a silent prayer to whatever god would listen that her comrades were alright. "I left the rest of my squad back there. I need to make sure those things didn't… didn't… " she quickly quashed those feelings down. No need to cry in front of the civ-the doctor she corrected. She might as well give him some respect, since he could save her friends lives.

The Doctor nodded, breaking out of her grip. His jog was easily able to keep up with her run. "Of course, that's what I was saying. What were those things? Don't suppose you know what's going on?" As he ran past the remains of the Geth he ran his strange looking device over them, then examined the remains.

"They're called the Geth" she said simply, not to surprised he didn't know them. Since they stayed behind their veil for so long, most people had forgotten about them, or wrote them off as legend. Working in the military you got to hear a bit more about them, and learn that they were all to real. "They're-"

"A gestalt artificial intelligence operating in mobile war platforms!" he interrupted, his eyes still on the scanner "Their design would allow for them to pool their processing power, making them smarter the more of them there are!"

Ashley blinked. She didn't know much about Geth, but that sounded like some of the stuff she'd read in Alliance briefings. This guy had picked all that up off of… whatever that was? How?

The Doctor looked her in the eye "But why are they here?"

Ashley turned away, something in that gaze was so… different from a normal person. To old for such a young face. She distracted herself from that thought by noticing where they were "They came for the beacon." she said simply, knowing he would know what she meant. It was the talk of the whole colony, after all. "It's right… over… here…" she trailed off as she noticed that not only was the Beacon gone, so was her whole team. On the one hand, that was good, because if they were dead, they wouldn't have been moved… probably. On the other hand, the Beacon was GONE! Taken by filthy alien robots that were gonna do god knows what with it!

The Doctor stepped forward, sonicing the area. He could tell by the soldier's (he really wished she'd told him her name before dragging him along) reaction that something was definitely wrong. Clearly those machines, those Geth, had taken the 'beacon' that was oh so important. From the way she kept glancing around the site, worry evident on her features (and not a worry one gets for an inanimate object), plus what he'd gleaned from her mind when he'd looked in her eyes, there was likely a battle here, and she was looking for survivors. Or casualties.

As he scanned the area (picking up a bizarre energy reading, which felt somewhat like a psychic trace despite no sign of a matching biological signal), he felt her gaze on him. "What exactly is that thing?" she asked.

The Doctor grinned, though she couldn't see it "It's a sonic screwdriver. Uses sound waves to pick up all sorts of useful information."

Silence for a moment "So… is that anything like an Omni-Tool?" The Doctor had to keep from snorting. An omni-tool? Were those fad things still around? Then again, considering what year it was supposed to be, they were likely still quite popular.

Snapping it open and squinting at the readings he decided to answer "Somewhat. But the modifications I've made over the years means its more powerful then any omni-tool you'll likely ever see."

He spun on his heel to face her "I've picked up several Geth signatures. From the looks of it, plus what I've seen from the site, several of them must have moved the beacon that way." He gestured with his head towards a steep incline at the behind of the site. "Also, from the indents on the ground, and the way you keep looking around for someone, I'd say they were dragging bodies. Hopefully they're still alive but… I can't really say what Geth do with bodies…" If it were Cybermen he'd understand, but Geth? He barely knew what the Geth were (a rare treat for him, which he wished he was able to enjoy under better circumstances.

The look on her face face didn't provide much help, as she just looked confused "Geth… don't normally take prisoners." she said, her grip tightening on her gun.

Ashely didn't know what to think. If this doctor was to be believed (and while she didn't have reason to doubt him, it occurred to her that she hadn't even bothered to get his name) then the Geth took some or all of her squad. But Geth didn't take hostages, at least not that she'd ever heard. She couldn't possibly think what they'd need bodies for, so maybe there was hope…?

Crushingly that hope was dashed just over the next hill. With her taking point and the doctor behind (because no matter how smart he was there was no way she was letting him go ahead, especially when she had the gun and the shield), they crested the hill behind the dig site. And what she saw there would linger in her nightmares for years to come...

 **End of Part 1**

So that's it. I know its not very long, but this is just to test the waters. Please let me know what you think, and I'll see you next time.


End file.
